Hotel Frank Bosses Blow Town and Shut Down

Marc Nortonbyline‚
Oct. 15‚ 2012

Hotel Frank workers and UNITE HERE Local 2 have driven the wannabe union-busting owners and operators of the hotel – AEW Capital Management and Provenance Hotels – out of San Francisco. The Hotel Frank bosses have tucked their tails between their legs, thrown a big wad of money at the workers, sold the hotel, and fled town. For the last two years, workers at this small, boutique hotel, just a block off Union Square at Geary and Mason, maintained rambunctious, loud and near-daily picket lines, heard and witnessed by many thousands of tourists and residents. Local 2 staged several rallies and mass demonstrations. On September 12, just two days before the hotel shut down, Hotel Frank workers ratified a settlement agreement with AEW and Provenance. The bosses are coughing up close to a million bucks for medical and pension payments they had failed to pay. The hotel also made sizeable severance payments to the workers, including six months of medical coverage going forward, and reinstated three workers who had been unfairly fired, including myself. While we are still far from victory, our solidarity and tenacity paid off.